Paul Magnuson / B!G ART  

The DOOR(S) 

On display November 5–14, 2021  

Calgary, Canada 

What does a door mean to you? Does it evoke feelings of opportunity or anxiety? How did a door become a metaphor for success, failure, opportunity, family, home, change, transition, and so many other moments of emotional connection? After all, it’s just a door. 

The DOOR(S) are one-of-a-kind, prototype gateways to alternate realities. Picture a standard front door: white, with a small window at the top and a brushed aluminum handle. Now, picture this door in the middle of a busy road, walkway, or park. If you open this door, you’re sure to know what’s on the other side. However, when you open this door, you will discover an alternate reality. Each time you close and reopen the door, a different experience awaits, bending your imagination to dream, “What if?” 

Biography  

A self-described “artistic charlatan,” Paul Magnuson of B!G ART believes his technical creations are less art and more experiments in alternative, interactive public entertainment. Each piece utilizes accessible, but hacked, consumer technology in unique combinations and unexpected situations to evoke surprise and wonder. Like moths to flames, people are attracted to the glitz and glamor of bright lights, video, lasers, fireballs, and other special effects, interrupting our regularly scheduled lives, and Magnuson wants to be the one who turns on the light.